Ham Radio Heroes

by Elizabeth Sinclair

Although the main purpose of Amateur Radio, otherwise known as
Ham Radio, is fun, it is called the "Amateur Radio Service"
because it also has a serious face. The FCC created this
"Service" to fill the need for a pool of experts who could
provide backup communication services in times of disasters and
emergencies. Countless lives have been saved where skilled ham
radio operators act as emergency communicators to render aid,
whether it's an earthquake in Italy, a flood in India or a
hurricane in the U.S.

In times of crisis and natural disasters, ham radio sometimes
is the only surviving means of communication. They can relay
messages through their radios over long distances when telephones
and power lines fail or are overloaded. Sometimes they are the
only way government officials can get messages to disaster
ravaged parts of a remote area.

Ham radio operators have been and still are a very important
factor in providing disaster communications. In the United
States, they are supported by the American Red Cross, and nearly
every police agency across the nation.

In the United States, two organizations of amateur radio
operators exist nationally for disaster communications.
They are the:

RACES is a special part of the amateur operation sponsored by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). RACES provides
emergency communications for civil preparedness purposes only.
RACES is conducted by ham radio amateurs using their primary ham
radio station licenses or by existing RACES stations. In the
event that the President invokes the War Emergency powers,
ham radio amateurs officially enrolled in the local civil
preparedness group would become limited to certain frequencies,
while all other amateur operations would be silenced.

Any United States citizen, who possesses a valid FCC Ham Radio
Operator License, technician class or higher, is eligible to
become a member of RACES. The services of ham radio operators
who have a Novice Class license may be used, but this is not
recommended due to the privilege limitations.

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) is a corps of trained
ham radio operator volunteers organized to assist in public
service and emergency communications; it is sponsored by the
American Radio Relay League at http://www.arrl.org . Usually, the
ARES is organized by city and county and will be affiliated with
the local municipality or county government. Every licensed ham
radio operator amateur, regardless of membership in ARRL or any
other local or national organization, is eligible for membership
in the ARES. Frequently, local chapters combine with RACES,
although the functions of ARES and RACES are somewhat different.
To operate during a declared emergency, you would normally be
part of RACES.

Ham radio operators play a vital role in saving lives through the
use of their ham radios and they are not allowed to receive any
compensation. Ham Radio's purpose is to spread goodwill around
the world through wireless communication, provide volunteer
emergency communications in disasters, and maintain a pool of
experienced and knowledgable radio operators and electronics
enthusiasts.